Display unit

ABSTRACT

A unit for displaying and storing pairs of items for sale in which a storage unit is movably mounted within a display unit having front and rear panels and means for displaying one item of the pair attached to the panels.

United States Patent Joachim Lahr Mozartplatz 4, Koblenz-Oberwerth,Germany Mar. 13, 1968 Jan. 5, 1971 Mar. 18, 1967 L, Germany No. L56049Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Priority DISPLAY UNIT 5 Claims, 7Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 211/36,

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Field ofSearch 2l l/34, 36, 37,57,l25;3l2/286,330,119,120,128,132, 135,l36;206/44.1l,45.1l,45.l5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 803,086 l0/l905 Arnold 2ll/34 960,342 6/1910 Kleckner 312/286 1,649,061 ll/l927 Ensrud 2l l/36X3,229,819 l/l966 Berk 2l l/59 FOREIGN PATENTS 981,060 l/l 965 GreatBritain 2l l/37 Primary Examiner-David H. Brown Attorney-Webb, Burden,Robinson & Webb ABSTRACT: A unit for displaying and storing pairs ofitems for sale in which a storage unit is movably mounted within adisplay unit having front and rear panels and means for displaying oneitem of the pair attached to the panels.

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invenor JO-ac/nm l a /7 r PATENTEU JAN 5 mi SHEEY 3 UF 3 InventorDISPLAY UNIT My invention relates to a display unit for displayingvarious items that are sold to consumers in pairs-In particular, myinvention relates to a shoe display unit.

Generally, in displaying shoes or other items sold in pairs, it is notactually necessary that both pairs be displayed on the display unit,since the purpose of acquainting the customer with a certain item orshoe style can be accomplished by viewing only one item such as one shoeof a pair. If only one item of a pair is displayed, the display spacecan be substantially reduced. The danger of theft, particularly in largeself-service stores, is great when complete pairs are openly displayed.However, when only one item of a pair is placed on view, the associatedsecond item has been stored somewhere outside of the sales room. Thedisadvantage of this practice is that the second item must be brought inby the sales clerk from this distant storage place with a largeunproductive expenditure of ,time and energy.

My invention provides an improved display shelf and, more particularly,a shoe display unit which is dimensionally small, secure against theft,and eliminates the long distances and time losses involved in obtainingthe second item or shoe from a room other than the sales room.

My invention solves these problems by equipping a display shelf with astorage shelf that is immediately behind the display unit and whichserves to store the second item of a pair, in a sufficiently separatedand theft-proof manner, yet at the same time, affords great proximitybetween the stored items and the displayed items, thus eliminatingproblems of organizaton and transportation. The storage shelf ispreferably designed as a double shelf disposed between two display unitsand preferably mounted and guided on rails, rollers or the like so thatit is horizontally movable at one of the ends of the shelf into and outof the space between the two display units. in addition, the storageshelf may be articulatedly connected'to the shoe display unit so that itis pivotable in a horizontal plane. It is also very practicable to havethe storage shelf removably, and more particularly, suspendably orinsertably connected to the display unit.

Briefly stated, my display unit comprises a front and rear display boardwhich include means for holding one item of a pair of items offered forsale. A storage unit is movably mounted between the front and reardisplay boards. The storage unit has a plurality of rectangularcompartments which preferably are subdivided by means of diagonalpartitions into two receiving chambers in each of which one item or shoeis stored in a suitably shaped container. The associated second itemsuch as one shoe of the pair is displayed on the display unit. To makebetter use of the space available in the compartments of the storageshelf, the cartons for the single item are preferably somewhatwedge-shaped in configuration.

To facilitate the assembling of the individual separately housed member,the items on the display unit and in the storage shelf, as well as theconventional shaped container intended for both items and the singleitem carton which is placed'in the storage shelf, should all bear thesame identification.

A modification of my invention is characterized by the fact that thestorage shelf is designed as a board which is rollably mounted withinthe display unit, the second item of the pair being stored in atransparent bag made of plastic or netting held on hooks affixed to theboard. In order to make the best use of the available space, the hooksfor suspending the plastic bags may be mounted in a staggered pattern.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown the preferred embodiments ofmy invention in which: v

FIG. l is a side view of the display'unit taken along line I-I of FIG. 2with an end panel of the storage unit removed;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the display unit of my invention showingthe storage unit partially withdrawn from between the front and reardisplay boards;

FIG. 3 shows the specially designedsingle-shoebox for use in the storageunit of my invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view ofla modified embodi ment of myinvention showing the storage' unit in its withdrawn position in dottedlines;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 with thestorage unit in withdrawn position shown in dotted lines; Y

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the embodiment of my invention shown inFIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the modified embodiment of my inventionshown in FIG. 4 with the storage unit partially withdrawn from betweenthe front and rear display boards.

Display unit l comprises a generally rectangular structure having afront display board Ia and a rear display board lb and top and bottomelements 1c and 1d, respectively. The display unit may be supported fromthe ground in' any conventional manner. Rods 8 for holding an item to bedisplayed are affixed to the front and rear display boards. Fordisplaying shoes I prefer to the rods bent in a zigzag wavelike shape toafford a perspective view of the items to be displayed. In this manner alarge number of shoes may be displayed in a pleasant fashion. i

It may be seen from the illustration of the embodiments as shown in FIG.2 that a storage shelf 2 is movably mounted within an opening betweenthe front display board and the rear display board. The storage shelf 2slides on any guide means of conventional design. For example, the guidemay comprise tracks secured to top lc and bottom ld with a suspensionwheel riding in the tracks. The storage shelf` may be movable fromeither side of unit l as diagrammatically shown in FIG. 5, and the endpanels 2a and 2b of the storage shelf constitute the ends of unit whenthe shelf is closed or in the inserted position. Thus, when the shelf isinserted in the unit, anything stored in the shelf is protected fromview.

The shelf itself is composed of a number of rectangular compartments 3that are disposed adjacent one another in a stacked array. The shelf mayhave compartments on both the front as well as the back. Thecompartments may be of any size or shape. For storing shoes thecompartments 3 preferably are subdivided by an inclined partition 4 intotwo chambers 5 and 6. A suitably shaped container, for example, ashoebox 7 may be inserted into each of these chambers 5. FIG. 3 is anenlarged view of a specially designed shoebox 7 for use in my invention.The approximately wedge-shaped configuration of the single-shoeboxcorresponds to the typical outline of a high-heeled shoe.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-7, the storage shelf 2 is a slidingboard 9 which is disposed between front and back boards and elements Icand Id. On the front and back of the board are hooks 10 disposed in anoffset pattern and on which plastic or net bags 11 are hung. These orany equivalent means are used to store the associated second item of thepair. The bags may be large enough to carry'the purchased pair away fromthe store.

While I have shown and described preferred embodiments of my invention,it may otherwise be embodied within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A display unit for displaying and storing items purchased in pairscomprising: a boxlike structure including a front display board andmeans attached thereto for holding one item of said pair to bedisplayed; and a storage means for storing the other of said items, saidstorage means being movably mounted within said boxlike structure.

2. A display unit as set forth in claim l wherein said storage meansincludes a plurality of rectangular storage containers, said containersbeing subdivided by an inclined partition plate.

3. A display unit as set forth in claim ll wherein said storage means isdisengageably connected -to said display unit by 5. A display unit asset forth in claim 4 wherein said storage means is characterized by aboard slidably mounted above and

1. A display unit for displaying and storing items purchased in pairscomprising: a boxlike structure including a front display board andmeans attached thereto for holding one item of said pair to bedisplayed; and a storage means for storing the other of said items, saidstorage means being movably mounted within said boxlike structure.
 2. Adisplay unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein said storage means includesa plurality of rectangular storage containers, said containers beingsubdivided by an inclined partition plate.
 3. A display unit as setforth in claim 1 wherein said storage means is disengageably connectedto said display unit by suspension means.
 4. A display unit as set forthin claim 1 wherein said boxlike structure includes a first and seconddisplay board in spaced-apart relationship and said storage means ismovably mounted therebetween.
 5. A display unit as set forth in claim 4wherein said storage means is characterized by a board slidably mountedabove and below and having suspension hooks for holding said storeditems.